Reza Shah Visits Turkey

Reza Shah took off on his only travel to a foreign country on June, 2, 1934. He was accompanied by 17 people, mostly high ranking military officers. A brief background of Iran-Turkey Relations : Reza Shah was the first person to congratulated Ataturk after foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, sending him a sword and a Quran as gift. On Apr, 22, 1926, a treaty of friendship and security was signed between the two countries. Although some incidents in the Kurdish region and foreign meddling prevented the two countries from approaching further, the leaders of these two neighboring countries tried to resolve border disputes and signed a new treaty in Ankara on Nov, 5, 1932 Reza Shah's trip to Turkey marked the beginning of a new era in Iran-Turkey relationship. After short stops in Tabriz, Khoy and Maku, the Iranian mission entered Turkey on June, 11. They were accompanied by Turkish authorities through Kars, Erzurum, Trabzon, Samsun and arrived in Ankara on June, 16, 1934. They stayed in Turkey for 38 days and visited military, historical and other installations before returning to Tehran On July, 11.Among other things, Reza Shah was very much impressed by modernization in Turkey and believed that Iran lacked participation of women in the society in order to develop. He founded many modern educational and public institutions and passed regulations that practically banned veil and changed the way Iranians were to dress on Dec, 23, 1935.